One of Stephen Elop’s biggest moves after being tapped as CEO of Nokia was to dump its Symbian mobile operating system for Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. Why didn’t he opt for Android, which has far greater critical mass at market?

Speaking at D9 Wednesday afternoon, Elop said the answer is simple: differentiation. “The biggest question for us was what degree of influence could we have over Android to ensure differentiation,” he said, adding that in the end there wasn’t enough. “Is sustainable long-term differentiation possible with Android? We felt the opportunity for that was better with Windows Phone.”

With Windows Phone, Elop said, Nokia has the flexibility to differentiate over time, something that Android OEM’s don’t have. It also has exposure, scale and, potentially, a robust ecosystem. “This is no longer a battle of devices, it is a war of ecosystems,” he said.

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